U.S. Jews Ignore Situation of Jews in Latin America

Jews in the United States are guilty of ignoring the situation faced by Jews in Latin America, Jacques Torczyner, former president of the Zionist Organization of America, told a luncheon meeting of the Latin American Jewish Congress here. He suggested holding a Pan-American Jewish Conference so that Jews in North, Central and South America could learn each other’s problems.

Torczyner, a member of the executives of the Jewish Agency, the World Zionist Organization and the World-Jewish Congress, is visiting Argentina, Uruguary, Chile, Peru and Brazil.

He said here that Israel, which was completely isolated two years ago, now enjoys U.S. support. But he did not know whether this would change because of the detente between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. He also expressed concern about the situation of Jews in Arab countries. He noted that King Hassan II of Morocco was the only protector of the 65,000 Jews in that country.

Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, president of the American Jewish Congress, said in Jerusalem this weekend that he saw a danger of “estrangement” between American Jews and Israel because the common language and common experiences of the past were disappearing. He spoke at the closing session of the AJ Congress-sponsored American-Israel dialogue. To bridge the gap, he said, “we must find and identify the needs and aspirations we share as members of the Jewish people.”